Teacher Survey,Teacher Log, Principal Survey

APPENDIX D

PRINCIPAL SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE AND ACCOMPANYING LETTER

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U NITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION SCIENCES

National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance

Month XX, 2016

Principal Firstname Lastname

Title

School Name

Address Line 1

City, ST XXXXX

Dear Principal Name:

I am writing to request your help with an important new U.S. Department of Education study that will examine how teachers use data to help improve student learning. Your school is one of 104 participating in this study, which seeks to provide valuable information on principal perceptions and school use of data-driven instruction (DDI). The study is being conducted by our contractor, Mathematica Policy Research and its partner organizations.

As part of the study, we are conducting voluntary surveys of all principals and a sample of teachers in the study schools this spring to learn about your schools experiences with and use of data to inform your instruction.

Information reported directly by principals is extremely important to the success of the study. On behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, I encourage your participation to ensure the information gathered by the survey is accurate and complete.

The survey can be completed in an estimated 30 minutes, and in appreciation for your time and effort, Mathematica will send you a $20 check. All information you provide is strictly confidential – your individual responses will not be shared outside the research team, and survey data will be presented only in aggregate form and will not identify any individual or school.

This letter will be followed by a survey packet from Mathematica that will include a copy of the questionnaire and a return envelope. If you would like to update your address or if you have any questions, please contact the DDI survey team’s help desk toll free at 866-XXX-XXXX, or by email at [email protected]. You can always contact the Mathematica survey director, [email protected] or the study project director, Phil Gleason at [email protected]. We greatly appreciate your assistance with this important study.

This survey is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, which prohibits disclosure of individually identifiable information as well as making the publishing or communicating of individually identifiable information by employees or staff a felony. Per the policies and procedures required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific school, district, or individual. Any willful disclosure of such information for nonstatistical purposes, except as required by law, is a class E felony.

Sincerely,

Erica Johnson

Federal Project Officer

Public Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202. If you have comments or concerns regarding the content or the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to:  U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC  20208.

O MB No. XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mathematica Ref. No. 40166.750

U.S. Department of Education

Evaluation of Data-Driven Instruction

Principal Survey

Month XX, 2016

Thank you for taking the time to complete this voluntary questionnaire—it is vital to the success of this important U.S. Department of Education study. Your answers will be completely confidential; no information that identifies you or your school will be reported.

Please return the completed form in the enclosed envelope.

This survey is authorized by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, which prohibits disclosure of individually identifiable information as well as making the publishing or communicating of individually identifiable information by employees or staff a felony. Per the policies and procedures required by the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, Title I, Part E, Section 183, responses to this data collection will be used only for statistical purposes. The reports prepared for this study will summarize findings across the sample and will not associate responses with a specific school, district, or individual. Any willful disclosure of such information for nonstatistical purposes, except as required by law, is a class E felony.

Public Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202. If you have comments or concerns regarding the content or the status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208.

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS AND DEFINITIONS

Questions in this survey ask about the use of data to inform instructional decisions in your school during the current school year (2015-2016).

By school leaders, we mean the principal, assistant principals, instructional or data coaches, grade level or department chairs, master or lead teachers, and other leaders in your school.

By student data, we mean any type of student data, including the following:

• Summative assessments are state- or district-mandated standardized tests that are intended to measure students’ knowledge and skills at or near the end of a school year or course relative to grade-level content standards.

• Interim assessments are standardized tests of student knowledge and skills, specifically designed to measure student progress toward key learning goals—that is, related to a particular set of standards—throughout the year. These are sometimes called benchmark assessments. Examples include Smarter Balanced interim assessments, the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), STAR, Amplify, Aimsweb, and Acuity.

• Formative assessments are administered to students throughout the school year. Examples include chapter tests, quizzes, and teacher-developed assessments.

• Samples of student work include worksheets completed in-class, writing prompts, and homework or paper assignments.

• Student background characteristics include race/ethnicity, gender, free or reduced price lunch eligibility, IEP/disability status, and ELL status or other indicators of English language abilities.

• Data on school behavior include suspensions, expulsions, and office referrals or other indicators of discipline or behavior problems.

The survey also includes questions about professional development that you have received during the current school year (2015-2016) or the preceding summer (summer 2015). By professional development, we mean formal training provided or facilitated by your school, district, or state. This training could include workshops, academic courses, or in-service training.

By data coach, we mean a designated staff person who provides on-site support to teachers and other school staff on how to analyze and use data to understand students’ learning needs and change instruction to help students meet learning goals.

Please keep these definitions and conventions in mind as you respond to this survey.

A. SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAM

A1. This school year, does your school have a leadership team with regular members that meets regularly to make decisions about the school’s operation, instructional goals and practices, and other issues?

□ Yes

□ No  Skip to B1

A2. Which of the following are regular members of the school leadership team?

Members of the School Leadership Team	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	YES	NO
Principal	1	0
Assistant principal(s)	1	0
Grade or department chairs	1	0
Master or lead teacher(s)	1	0
Special education, ELL, and other specialists	1	0
Other teachers	1	0
Instructional coaches (for example, math, ELA, science)	1	0
Data coaches	1	0
Parent representatives	1	0
Other members (please specify:______________________________)	1	0

A3. This school year, about how often does the school leadership team meet?

SELECT ONE ONLY

Never 0

Once or twice 1

Monthly or several times per term 2

Weekly or several times per month 3

Daily or several times per week 4

A4. This school year, about how long have the school leadership team meetings typically lasted?

SELECT ONE ONLY

Less than one hour 0

One to two hours 1

More than two hours 2

A5. This school year, about how many school leadership meetings have you, as the principal, attended?

SELECT ONE ONLY

None 0

At least once but less than a third 1

Between one third and two thirds 2

More than two thirds 3

All meetings 4

A6. This school year, how often does the school leadership team do the following activities? (Include ONLY activities done by the school leadership team, do not include activities done by other groups)

Leadership Team Activities	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
Analyze student data to set schoolwide and grade-level achievement or proficiency improvement goals	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance to teachers on achievement or proficiency improvement goals for their students	0	1	2	3	4
Analyze student data to monitor progress toward achievement or proficiency improvement goals	0	1	2	3	4
Provide feedback to teachers on their students’ progress toward meeting achievement or proficiency improvement goals	0	1	2	3	4
Analyze student data to identify priority learning goals for students	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance to teachers on priority learning goals for their students	0	1	2	3	4
Monitor and provide feedback to teachers on their students’ progress toward meeting priority learning goals	0	1	2	3	4
Identify evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices) that teachers should use	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance on evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices) that teachers should use	0	1	2	3	4
Monitor and provide feedback to teachers on their implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance on how often teachers should examine student data	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance on the types of student data that teachers should examine	0	1	2	3	4
Provide guidance on the protocols or strategies that teachers should use to analyze student data	0	1	2	3	4
Monitor and provide feedback to teachers on their use of data to guide instruction	0	1	2	3	4
Analyze student data to determine the professional development needs of teachers	0	1	2	3	4
Develop or plan professional development for teachers on data use	0	1	2	3	4
Develop or plan professional development for teachers on topics other than data use	0	1	2	3	4
Plan other structured supports for teachers (for example, coaching) on data use	0	1	2	3	4
Designate time for teachers to work collaboratively to plan instruction based on data	0	1	2	3	4
Most common other school leadership team activity (please specify:________________________________ )	0	1	2	3	4

B. SCHOOL DATA USE

B1. This school year, how often do you, as the school principal, provide teachers in your school with the following information?

Types of Information	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
a. Guidance on how often teachers should examine student data	0	1	2	3	4
b. Guidance on the types of student data that teachers should examine	0	1	2	3	4
c. Guidance on the protocols or strategies that teachers should use to analyze student data	0	1	2	3	4
d. Guidance on achievement or proficiency improvement goals for their students	0	1	2	3	4
e. Guidance on priority learning goals for their students	0	1	2	3	4
f. Guidance on evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices) that teachers should use	0	1	2	3	4
g. Feedback on teachers’ data analysis and use of data to guide instruction	0	1	2	3	4
h. Feedback on teachers’ implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
i. Information on their students’ progress toward meeting priority learning goals	0	1	2	3	4
j. Information on their students’ progress toward meeting achievement or proficiency improvement goals	0	1	2	3	4

B2. This school year, does your school have a data coach or some other designated staff person who is available on-site to help teachers use data to improve their instruction?

□ Yes

□ No  Skip to B4

B3. This school year, about how often does your school’s data coach do each of the following activities?

Data Coach Activities	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
a. Meet individually with you, the principal, to assess progress toward school goals and plan next steps	0	1	2	3	4
b. Analyze and share analysis of school-wide data	0	1	2	3	4
c. Analyze and share analysis of grade-level data	0	1	2	3	4
d. Analyze and share analysis of data for individual teachers	0	1	2	3	4
e. Analyze data to help set individualized learning goals for students	0	1	2	3	4
f. Identify evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
g. Work (1-on-1 or in groups) with teachers on how to analyze and interpret various types of student data	0	1	2	3	4
h. Work (1-on-1 or in groups) with teachers on how to use evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
i. Observe teachers and provide feedback on their implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
j. Observe teachers and provide feedback on their classroom management and other aspects of their practice	0	1	2	3	4
k. Organize and/or help lead the school’s leadership team	0	1	2	3	4
l. Participate in school leadership team meetings	0	1	2	3	4
m. Organize and/or help lead teacher collaboration teams	0	1	2	3	4
n. Participate in teacher collaboration meetings	0	1	2	3	4
o. Develop and provide training to teachers on how to analyze and interpret data	0	1	2	3	4
p. Develop and provide training for teachers on other topics	0	1	2	3	4
q. Provide 1-on-1 coaching to teachers on how to analyze and use data to change their instruction	0	1	2	3	4
r. Other most important activity (specify:____________)	0	1	2	3	4

B4. This school year, how often do you, as the school principal, do each of the following activities?

Principal Activities	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
a. Designate time for teachers to work collaboratively to plan instruction based on data	0	1	2	3	4
b. Plan training and other structured supports for teachers (for example, professional development and coaching) on how to analyze and interpret data	0	1	2	3	4
c. Observe and provide feedback to teachers on their implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0	1	2	3	4
d. Observe and provide feedback to teachers on their classroom management and other aspects of practice	0	1	2	3	4
e. Participate in teacher collaboration meetings	0	1	2	3	4

B5. This school year, how often does your school expect teachers to develop and update analysis of student progress, and share them in the following forms?

Shared Analysis of Student Progress	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
a. In folders, binders, or portfolios for individual students	0	1	2	3	4
b. Visual displays in their own classrooms	0	1	2	3	4
c. Visual displays in hallways or other grade-level common areas	0	1	2	3	4
d. Visual displays in libraries or other school-wide common areas	0	1	2	3	4
e. Visual displays in teacher lounges or other staff-only areas	0	1	2	3	4
f. Visual displays kept in the school or principal’s office	0	1	2	3	4
g. Visual displays for school lobbies or other public areas	0	1	2	3	4
h. Visual displays to post on a website	0	1	2	3	4
i. Other method for sharing analysis (specify: ____________________________________)	0	1	2	3	4

B6. This school year, to what extent is each of the following a barrier to the use of student data to help guide instruction in your school?

		SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
Barriers to Data Use	MAJOR BARRIER		MODERATE BARRIER	SMALL BARRIER	NOT AT ALL
a. Lack of access to student-level data in a usable form	0		1	2	3
b. Lack of access to technology and tools to help track and analyze student data	0		1	2	3
c. Lack of access to analysis and reports of student data in a usable form	0		1	2	3
d. Lack of access to formal training on how to analyze and use student data to inform instructional practice	0		1	2	3
e. Lack of access to coaching, mentoring, or other 1-on-1 support on how to analyze and interpret student data	0		1	2	3
f. Lack of time to review, analyze, and use student data	0		1	2	3
g. Lack of access to coaching, mentoring, or other 1-on-1 support on how to change instruction based on data	0		1	2	3
Lack of access to information or other resources on evidence-based instructional strategies (best practices)	0		1	2	3
Lack of time to work collaboratively with other teachers to plan instruction and modify lesson plans based on data			1	2	3
Lack of flexibility in school or district policies to adjust instruction based on student data	0		1	2	3
Other most important barrier to data use (specify:_________________________________________)	0		1	2	3

B7. This school year, including the preceding summer, have you, as the school principal, received any professional development on any topics?

□ No  SKIP TO C

□ Yes

B8. About how many days of professional development have you received in total this school year (including the preceding summer)?

__________ TOTAL DAYS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

B9. Out of the total days of professional development that you reported in B8, about how many days focused on topics related to how to use and analyze data to inform instructional practice?

□ None

__________ DAYS

B10. This school year (including the preceding summer), to what extent has each of the following topics been a focus of the professional development that you have received?

Professional Development Topics	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	MAJOR FOCUS	MODERATE FOCUS	MINOR FOCUS	NOT AT ALL
How to develop or improve content (e.g., curriculum frameworks in math)	3	2	1	0
How to develop or improve pedagogy (e.g., how to spark student engagement)	3	2	1	0
How standardized assessments measure student knowledge and skills	3	2	1	0
How to analyze or interpret various types of student data to understand student needs	3	2	1	0
How to use data to set individual learning goals for students	3	2	1	0
How to change instruction based on data	3	2	1	0
How to use evidence-based instructional strategies to help students meet learning goals	3	2	1	0
How to use student data to monitor student progress toward meeting learning goals	3	2	1	0
How to improve some other important aspect of your teaching (specify:_______________________________)	3	2	1	0

C. ACCESS TO AND USE OF DATA TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION

C1. This school year, about how often do you, as the principal, use each of the following types of student data to help inform improvement goals, instructional priorities, or some other aspect of practice in your school?

Types of Student Data	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	ONCE OR TWICE	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
a. Summative assessment results	0	1	2	3	4
b. Interim assessment results	0	1	2	3	4
c. Formative assessment results	0	1	2	3	4
d. Samples of student work	0	1	2	3	4
e. Past course grades	0	1	2	3	4
f. Student achievement data broken down by student background characteristics	0	1	2	3	4
g. Attendance	0	1	2	3	4
h. School behavior	0	1	2	3	4
i. Readiness for grade promotion or graduation	0	1	2	3	4
j. Other most frequently used type of data (specify:________________________________)	0	1	2	3	4

C2. This school year, about how often have you, as the principal, used student data (of any type) for each of the following purposes?

Data Use Purposes	SELECT ONE RESPONSE PER ROW
	never	Once or twice	Monthly or Several times per TERM	weekly or Several times per month	daily or SEVERAL TIMES PER WEEK
To set schoolwide and grade-level achievement and proficiency goals for students	0	1	2	3	4
To identify priority learning goals for students	0	1	2	3	4
To monitor students’ progress toward meeting achievement and proficiency goals	0	1	2	3	4
To monitor students’ progress toward meeting priority learning goals	0	1	2	3	4
To determine the professional development needs of teachers	0	1	2	3	4
To report on school progress to district, state, or federal agencies	0	1	2	3	4
To report on school progress to teachers, other school staff, and/or students	0	1	2	3	4
To make student placement decisions	0	1	2	3	4
Other most frequent purpose for which you use data (specify:___________________________ )	0	1	2	3	4

C3. How would you describe your use of student data and understanding of instructional changes to make based on data? Please select the response that best applies.

SELECT ONE ONLY

I regularly conduct or review analysis of various types of student data and am confident when identifying instructional changes to help students meet priority learning goals based on data………………………………………………………….3

I sometimes conduct or review analysis of student data and am somewhat comfortable when identifying instructional changes to help students meet priority learning goals based on data………………………………………………………….2

I occasionally conduct or review analysis of student data but feel uncertain about what instructional changes to make, based on data, to help students meet priority learning goals………………………………………………………………….…1

I rarely conduct or review analysis of student data or make decisions about instructional changes based on data……….0

D. DEMOGRAPHICS

D1. Including the current school year, how many years of principal experience do you have in the following settings? Please round your responses up to the nearest whole number.

Principal Experience	ENTER ONE NUMBER FOR EACH CATEGORY; ENTER “0” IF NONE.
a. Total number of years	| | | YEARS
b. Total number of years at the elementary level	| | | YEARS
c. Total number of years at this school	| | | YEARS

D2. What is the highest degree that you have completed?

select ONE ONLY

1 Associate's degree

2 Bachelor's degree (B.A., B.S., etc.)

3 Master's degree (M.A., M.A.T., M.Ed., M.S., etc.)

4 Education specialist or professional diploma (at least one year beyond master’s level)

5 Doctoral degree or equivalent (Ph.D., Ed.D., J.D., M.D.)

0 I do not have a postsecondary degree (e.g., I have high school diploma or GED and/or some college-level courses)

D3. Are you male or female?

MARK ONE ONLY

1 Male

2 Female

D4. What year were you born?

1 9 | | |

D5. Are you Hispanic or Latino?

MARK ONE ONLY

1 Yes, Hispanic or Latino

2 No, not Hispanic or Latino

D6. Which best describes your race?

MARK ONE ONLY

1 American Indian or Alaska Native

2 Asian

3 Black or African American

4 Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

5 White

6 Two or more races

This concludes our survey. Thank you very much for your participation!